1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of computer networks, and, more specifically, to a method an apparatus for distributing and synchronizing objects across a network.
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2. Background Art
In a computer, applications, information, and processes may be controlled and executed by objects. Such objects may contain information (referred to as data) and may contain methods and applications (referred to as behavior) that can manipulate the data. In a computer network environment, multiple computers are linked together and one computer on a network may contain the object (and its associated data and behavior) that another computer desires to access or utilize. To provide the ability for multiple computers on a network to access and utilize an object located on a particular remote computer, a local computer may be provided with a “proxy object” that sends messages to and receives messages from the desired object (referred to as a remote object). However, when numerous computers are linked together (each with their own proxy object), the number of messages generated and transmitted across the network create excessive network traffic such that many applications cannot execute properly. These problems can be better understood by reviewing object oriented programming and networks and how they work.